January 29, 2025 23:20 GMT
NEW ZEALAND: 2024 Deficit Narrows As US Becomes Second Most Important Decision
NEW ZEALAND
NZ December trade posted a surplus of $219mn after a deficit of $435mn in November, as exports rose on the month while imports fell in line with very weak domestic demand. The 12mth deficit narrowed to $7.67bn from $8.26bn, also significantly smaller than December 2023’s $13.62bn.
NZ trade balance $bn YTD
Source: MNI - Market News/Refinitiv
- Q4 exports rose 5.5% q/q after 0.4% in Q3, while imports fell 2.2% after rising 1.6%.
- December exports rose 17.0% y/y up from 8.1% driven by growth across NZ’s major destinations. Exports to China rose 21.6% y/y, 10.7% y/y to the US and Australia 8.7%.
- In 2024, the US became NZ’s second most important export destination at 12.7% of the total pushing Australia into third place. Statistics NZ noted that “over the past decade, the value of exports to the US has nearly doubled. This is driven by US purchases of NZ meat which now make up 3.7 percent of our total exports”. Meat exports to the US rose 17% in 2024, while they fell 32% to China.
- Growth to the US rose 9% compared with down 3.2% to China and flat to Australia. There was strong growth in shipments to Europe up 17.4% and the region now accounts for almost 10% of NZ exports.
- December saw strong annual export growth for dairy products, meat and timber, while crude, wine and iron ore were lower.
- Imports in December rose 6.5% y/y with robust annual growth across categories. Consumer goods rose 7.8% y/y and plant & equipment 9.6% y/y (with a large rise in tech).
NZ exports vs imports y/y% 3-mth ma
Source: MNI - Market News/Refinitiv
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